The document analyzes and summarizes the music video for "Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before" by The Smiths. It discusses several key elements of the video including the use of close-ups to focus on Morrissey's star appeal, references to The Smiths' previous work through clothing graphics, the working class setting reflecting The Smiths' backgrounds, and visual connections to the song's lyrics. Representation of young, white, working-class men is also a prominent theme throughout the video.

1. Stop me if you think that you’ve
heard this one before - The Smiths

2. Star appeal and
Close upsThroughout the music video there are several close ups and
a lot of focus on star appeal. The use of close ups allow the
audience to focus on the artist in the frame and remind
them who they are watching. In the screenshot of the video
which is in the top right hand corner of the screen shows
Morrissey looking away from the cameras with his hand
shielding his eyes as if he is looking for something. This is
not only an example of the notions of looking but also of
the star appeal in the video. In the bottom right hand side
there is another example of this and it is taken from a
slightly lower angle than the one at the top. This could give
the impression of Morrissey being in control as it is his
video. The focus on the star appeal is not only shown
through close ups however and attention is brought to
Morrissey and his star appeal by having all of the extras in
the video dressed similarly to him with similar hair cuts,
glasses, shirts and jackets with all of them riding bikes.
This creates the image of multiple Morrissey's.

3. Intertextualit
yAndrew Goodwin states that a key feature in
a music video is intertextuality. In the video
for “Stop me if you think that you’ve heard
this one before” the smiths make several
references to themselves by wearing shirts
with their previous albums as shown at the
top right. As well as this they reference
themselves by wearing jackets with pictures
of lead singer Morrissey and with the name
of the band on them. Another way they
reference themselves is through everyone in
the video dressing and looking similar to the
lead singer Morrissey. There is also a picture
of the Irish poet Oscar Wilde at the beginning
of the video hanging on the wall. Morrissey is
a big fan of Wilde so by having a photo of
him in the video he is referencing him.
Another reference is the pub the Albert
Finney which is shown in the last few

4. Social
Realism
Social Realism is a international art movement that focussed on the day to day life of the
working class. This movement brought attention to the working class and the conditions
that they lived and worked in. The Smiths were all from a working class background and
the video for Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before reflect this. The video
not only references Albert Finney the Salford actor who rose to fame following his role in
the social realism film ‘Saturday night and Sunday morning’ but also uses a working class
estate to film the video at and features the Salford lads club in it. The use of long unbroken
tracking shots allow us to see the area where they have filmed and this type of filming
technique is used a lot in social realist films of the time.

5. Visuals and
lyricsAndrew Goodwin that another key aspect of
a music video is a strong link between the
lyrics and the visuals of the music video.
Without a link between the lyrics and the
visuals it could make the video irrelevant to
the music. In this video there are two main
links between the visuals and the lyrics.
When Morrissey sings the
line “I crashed down on
the crossbar” we see the
camera jerk and spin and
gives the impression of
crashing. This is
significant as before this
shot we see Morrissey
riding a bike and whilst
this shot only lasts a
second the link between
the lyric and the visuals
Another link between the visuals
and the lyrics which is less obvious
than “I crashed down on the
crossbar” is when Morrissey sings
the line “When I fell on the floor I
drank more”. When he sings this
one of the boys on the bike falls
awkwardly off his bike. Whilst this

6. Notions of
lookingThroughout the video there are a
lot of references to looking. Notions
of looking is another aspect of
music videos that Andrew Goodwin
deemed vital. The notion of looking
allows the artist or band to connect
to the audience and make them
feel involved in what is happening.
Throughout the video there are
plenty of references to the notion of
looking from the close up on the
eyes on the back of someone's
jacket to the close up of the eyes on
the poster on the fence to
Morrissey and the extras all having
their hands above their eyes as if
they are looking for someone who
is far away.

7. Representation
In the video for ‘Stop me if you think you’ve heard this
one before’ the main group being represented is young
white men of a working class background. This is
because everyone featured in the video is young white
and working class. It is clear that being of a working
class background is important to the group as the video
is shot in a working class area and in the beginning of
the video it is clear as to where it is being shot. Instead
of driving cars or taking a bus or train the boys in the
video are getting around the area on bikes and this
relates to their working class roots.